Cyprus President acknowledges country’s regional role against climate change

President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades acknowledged the country’s responsibility, as the only EU member state close to the Middle East, to be proactive in the fight against climate change, both by implementing adaptation measures for the island and by assuming a leadership role for mitigating the impact in the wider region.

He was addressing a dinner organized Friday evening at the Presidential Palace, on the occasion of the International Conference Climate Change in the Mediterranean and the Middle East: Challenges and Solutions that began on Friday in Nicosia.

According to an announcement by the Presidency of the Republic, the President added that many countries in the region, including Cyprus, are already experiencing a rise in temperatures and increases in freshwater scarcity, forest fires, frequency of droughts and growing rates of desertification.

I am well aware, through our various government departments, as well as the work of the Cyprus Institute and their network of partners in the region, that our region is particularly vulnerable to the expected increase in droughts, heat extremes and other consequences of Climate Change, which, inevitably, might disrupt social cohesion he said.

The President congratulated finally the Cyprus Institute for organizing the conference and noted the presence of former French Premier Laurent Fabius, saying that Cyprus fully supports the French initiative for a Global Environmental Pact.